Railway-crossing signal.



C. B. SEATON. RAILWAY cmssme SiGNA APPLICATEON FILED NOV. 23. 1917-Pat-ented Sept. 9, 1919.

2 SHEETS SHEET I.

C. 8. SEATON. RAILWAY CROSSING SIGNAL. APPLlCATiON FILED NOV. 23. 1917.

Partel lte'd Sept. 9, 1919.

CYRILLUS B. SEATON, OF MEDILL, MISSOURI.

RAILWAY-CROSSING SIGNAL.

misses Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented inept. 9, lhlll.

Application filed November 23. 191 Serial No. 203,526.

T 0 aZZ whom it may concern known that l. CYRILLUS B. SEATON, i heUnited States, residing at in vomit of Clark and State of re inventedcertain new and Improvements in. Railway-Crossing Signals, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in signals and moreparticularly to railway crossing signals The object of the invention isto provide a train operated device so arranged as to be actuated by themoving train and operate a visible signal and alarm located at thecrossing.

A further object is to produce a purely mechanical construction which isadapted to be positively actuated thereby eliminating any possibility ofa' disarrangement of the several cooperating parts.

Figure 1, is a plan view or" my device.

.Fig; 2, is a longitudinal section through the track on line 2--2 ofFig. 1.

F 3, is a transverse section through the track on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. l, is an enlarged sectional view through the signaling apparatus.

Numeal 1, indicates a signal tower of suitable height and located at therailway crossing. Atthe upper end of this tower is located a stubshaft2, rigidly secured to the tower. llloui'ited upon this stub shaft is asemaphore arm 3, provided with an actuated arm 4, extending on theopposite side of the stub shaft Q. Mounted upon the semaphore is analarm in the form of a bell 4' having associated therewith a clapper 5.com-prising a flat flexible spring 6, secured at one end to the arm, theouter free end of which is adapted to engage the bell when the semaphorearm is raised to a. danger position by suitable mechanism hereinafterdescribed. A chain 3 is attached to the outer end of the semaphore arm 3having its opposite end connected to a spring 2 which, in turn, isconnected to the tower 1,

thereby aiiording a resilient means to limit the upward movement of thesemaphore-arm 3 when the latter is actuated. v

Arranged on the opposite side of the tower 1 is a similar stationarystub shaft 8. Ro-

.tatably mounted upon this shaft are a plurality of flag arms 9, rig dlysecured to a hub 10. This hub is provided with a spurgear .11, which isadapted to engage an or p the rail tuating member 19', pivoted as at 13to the tower 1. This member on its upper side is in the form of a gearsegment ll, meshing with the spur-gear 11. The outer end of this memberis weighted as at 15, to cause the apparatus to return to itsinoperative position after being actuated. Arranged on the several. flagarms is a signal device in the form of a bell 16, provided. with. theusual clapper 17, secured as at 1.8, to the flag arms. will be see bythe actuation of these flag arms. not only a visible but an audiblesignal is simultaneously given to the party approaching the crossing.

The. semaphore and flag arms are preferably actuated by the moving);train and to accomplish this the following mechanism is preferablyprovided.

Arranged at a suitable distance from the crossing is an. actuatedmechanism compris in two inclined plates 20, pivotally mounted at theirouter end to a base plate 22, which is adapted to be secured- -djacentto the inner side of one of the rails A. The inner ends of these flangeplates are pivoted together and suspended therefrom is an adjustableplunger 23, the lower end of which is connected to a bell crank 24.transversely pivoted to the track as at Arranged between the flangeplates and i a web which is adapted to prevent any foreign substancewedgi'ng in between the pivoted plate and the rail. proper.

Numeral indicates a bell crank lever vertically pivoted as at :28,adjacent to the track, one end of which connected by a resilient memberin. the form of a spiral spring 29, to the outer free end of the transvcrsely arranged bell crank 24:. t

Arranged near the tower is a similar bell crank lever 30, verticallypivoted as at '31, one end of which is connected by suitable connecting"rod 32, to the free end of the bell crank 27. Connected to the free endof the bell crank lever 30, are a pair of cables or connecting wires 33and 3%, the wire 33, leading to the actuating arm of the semaphore 3,While the wire 34 leads to the actuating member 12. It will thus be seenthat as the flange of the ear wheel. passes over the inclined flangedplates 20, the latter will be forced downwardly thereby actuating theplunger 23, which in turn will serve to actuate the bell crank levers 27and 30 in such a manner as to pull on the cables 83 the locomotive wouldreflect upon the sig-" and 34 and cause the semaphore 3, to be raisedinto a danger position and the flag arms 9, to be rotated, this actionautomatically causing the audible signal to be actuated. Immediatelyupon the passing of the train over the flange plates 20, the' latterowing to the weighted ends of the. bell crank 2.4., and the actuatingmember 12, will be re turned to their normal inoperative position. It isobvious that the several bell cranks and other rotating mechanism may bemounted on ball bearings, thereby greatly reducing the friction inmanipulation of this device.

For the sake of duplicating this danger signal I desire to arrange alongthe track one or more pairs of the actuated flange members20 and theircooperating parts, repeating as many times as desirablethe 1nechanism toreproduce the danger signal as manytimes as occasion may necessitate.

It will thus be seen that I have eonstructf ed a mechanism which is verysimple in construction, positive in operation and one.

which may be installed without any alterations whatever to the railwaysystem.

If desired the tower may be set at a slight angle to the tracks wherebythe headlight of nals.

I claim: 1. In a railway crossing signal, the combination of a signaltower, a semaphore arm mounted thereon, a plurality of flag-armsrotatably mounted on said tower, vibratory audible means carried by saidsemaphore-arm and flag-arms, and wheel-dc: pressed means arranged at adistance along.

the track having flexible connections with the semaphore-arm andflag-arms whereby they are simultaneously actuated.

2. In a railway crossing signal, the combi nation of a signal-tower, asemaphore-arm mounted thereon for oscillatory movement,

a plurality of flag-arms rotatably mounted on said tower, vi'bratoryaudible means car ried by said semaphore-arm and flag-arms,wheel-depressed means arranged a vdlstance along the track havingflexible connections with the semaphore-arm and flag-arms,

whereby they are simultaneously actuated,

thereby actuating the vibratory audible means, and resilient means forlimiting the upward movement of the semaphore-arm.

In a railway crossing signal, the combination ofa signal-tower,stationary shafts extending laterally from either side thereof,

a semaphore-arm mounted on one of said shafts. vibratory means carriedby said semaphore-arm, a plurality of fiagarms rotatably mounted on theother stationary shaft, vibratory means carried thereby, a gear mountedon the hub of said flag-arms, a weighted gear segment. interm'eshingwith said gear, and wheel-depressed means carried at a distance alongthe track flexibly connected with the semaphore and flag-arm actuatingmeans, whereby they are simul-v In testimony whereof I aiiix mysignature,

in the presence of two witnesses. CYRILLUS B. SEATON.

l/Vitnesses:

R. B. MoHUoH, AMANDA E. DORSEY.

